diff --git a/infra/deploy/deploy.sh b/infra/deploy/deploy.sh
index 487779e..51748eb 100755
--- a/infra/deploy/deploy.sh
+++ b/infra/deploy/deploy.sh
@@ -247,9 +247,17 @@ fi
 # next deploy of a tag that has it picks it up with no further action.
 case " ${TARGETS[*]} " in
   *" daemon "*)
-    daemon_img="$(docker compose config --images daemon 2>/dev/null | head -1 || true)"
-    if [ -n "$daemon_img" ] \
-       && ! docker run --rm --entrypoint sh "$daemon_img" -c 'test -x /usr/local/bin/thermograph-daemon' 2>/dev/null; then
+    # Built directly from the same vars docker-compose.yml's `daemon.image:`
+    # interpolates (REGISTRY_HOST/BACKEND_IMAGE_PATH/BACKEND_IMAGE_TAG),
+    # NOT via `docker compose config --images daemon`: that command does not
+    # actually filter to the named service (confirmed live on Compose
+    # v5.3.1 -- it prints every service's image, one per line, in file
+    # order) so `| head -1` silently grabbed db's image instead. The probe
+    # then always found no daemon binary in a Postgres image and dropped
+    # daemon from EVERY backend deploy, regardless of what the real backend
+    # image contained -- reproduced and confirmed against beta directly.
+    daemon_img="${REGISTRY_HOST:-git.thermograph.org}/${BACKEND_IMAGE_PATH:-emi/thermograph/backend}:${BACKEND_IMAGE_TAG}"
+    if ! docker run --rm --entrypoint sh "$daemon_img" -c 'test -x /usr/local/bin/thermograph-daemon' 2>/dev/null; then
       echo "==> $daemon_img predates the daemon binary; rolling without the daemon service this run"
       kept=()
       for t in "${TARGETS[@]}"; do